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Report: Unemployment down for white Americans but up for African Americans

It was announced Friday that the unemployment rate among white Americans dropped almost 2%. The report shows that rate increased in the African American community though - from 16.7% up to 16.8%.

News 12 Staff

Jun 5, 2020, 9:48 PM

Updated 1,689 days ago

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The unemployment report is painting a picture of a divided America.
While the jobless rate for white Americans is down, African American workers continue to lag behind.
It was announced Friday that the unemployment rate among white Americans dropped almost 2%. The report shows that rate increased in the African American community though - from 16.7% up to 16.8%.
"It went from 3.2 million roughly in April to 3.3 million and change in May," says Cornell School of Industrial Relations economic geographer Russell Weaver. "So even though you're looking at one decimal - you're still talking about 100,000 more people."
Weaver says people who work in positions most at risk for layoffs and workplace closures -during the pandemic- are disproportionately persons of color.
"Retail, trade, leisure and hospitality - so salespersons, cashiers, their custodial staff, waiters and waitresses, construction," lists Weaver.
Weaver tell News 12 it is unclear how long the trend may last.